Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 4% of U.S. towns. What drives it
Most of Windy Hills was built recently: 0.8% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1970. Below: maps from 1905 on and the census since 1960.
More historic than 4% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Windy Hills is more historic than 4% of U.S. towns. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.
Kentucky towns list more on the Register than most of the country (a typical Kentucky town has 29.9 per 10,000 residents, the U.S. 2.4), so Windy Hills’ 0.0 sits below most of its state (12% of Kentucky towns have fewer) while its 0 listings outnumber those of 23% of U.S. towns.
Founding year: our sources. Homes: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register: National Park Service, May 2026 list; each listing counted once (boundary changes and added documentation belong to their listing), and a historic district counts its contributing buildings. How TownRatings grades history →
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Windy Hills’s history is told.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Windy Hills. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Windy Hills.
Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Windy Hills yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.
Windy Hills is a home rule-class city, incorporated in 1952, in eastern Jefferson County, Kentucky, United States. As of the 2020 census, Windy Hills had a population of 2,427.
Its population held steady between the last two censuses: 2,385 in 2010, 2,427 in 2020.
Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.
Weddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Between 1,371 and 2,480 people in every census since 1960.
7 censuses, 1960–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Windy Hills’ Wikipedia page.
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
Windy Hills is more historic than 4% of U.S. towns. The History grade combines the town’s founding era, the share of homes built before 1940 and its National Register listings. It’s a character grade, so it isn’t part of the overall grade. How it works.
0.8% of Windy Hills’ homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±1.2 points), against a typical 5.9% for a Kentucky town; the median home was built in 1970.
What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.
Founding dates: Wikidata, Wikipedia, the U.S. post office records of Blevins & Helbock (CC0) and the Census. Homes by year built: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register of Historic Places: National Park Service (list of May 22, 2026). Old photos, postcards and papers: Wikimedia Commons, the Library of Congress and other public archives, credited on each item’s page. Maps: U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (via Esri) and Sanborn fire-insurance maps (Library of Congress). History text and census tables: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0). Places that used to be: USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
From U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia) and the USGS Geographic Names Information System. Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.
